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Amazon’s ‘LORD OF THE RINGS’ Synopsis Revealed

The Tolkien superfans over at TheOneRing.net revealed as an exclusive Tuesday night, live on Twitter that they got their little Hobbit hands on the “authentic and official” synopsis for the long-awaited Lord of the Rings Amazon series!

Check it out below!

Amazon Studios’ forthcoming series brings to screens for the very first time the heroic legends of the fabled Second Age of Middle-earth’s history. This epic drama is set thousands of years before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and will take viewers back to an era in which great powers were forged, kingdoms rose to glory and fell to ruin, unlikely heroes were tested, hope hung by the finest of threads, and the greatest villain that ever flowed from Tolkien’s pen threatened to cover all the world in darkness. Beginning in a time of relative peace, the series follows an ensemble cast of characters, both familiar and new, as they confront the long-feared re-emergence of evil to Middle-earth. From the darkest depths of the Misty Mountains, to the majestic forests of the elf-capital of Lindon, to the breathtaking island kingdom of Númenor, to the furthest reaches of the map, these kingdoms and characters will carve out legacies that live on long after they are gone.

It’s been known for some time now that the Amazon series would be taking a deep dive into the history of Middle Earth, and the heroes and villains of its past. With a huge and diverse ensemble cast, a return to the original breathtaking and beautiful filming locations of New Zealand, and the chance to explore the history behind the beloved world created by J.R.R. Tolkien, this is one of my most highly anticipated series. No release date has been set yet, but Lord of the Rings is currently expected/hoped to begin streaming on Amazon Prime sometime in 2021.

Source: TheOneRing.net

January 12, 2021
How the Unusual Marketing of ‘WANDAVISION’ Could Turn Off Potential Viewers

WandaVision’s marketing is a little different than it probably would have been had the show been released at a time when there wasn’t a pandemic going on. But the core stuff – namely, trailers and TV spots – has been rolled out in a pretty typical manner (based on the admittedly few precedents we have from Disney+ headlining shows, at least). We won’t know how well it’s working until the show actually premieres, but there’s a lot to look over in the meantime.

WandaVision was shot mainly on soundstages and it has been said that Marvel Studios is even more invested than usual in preventing spoilers about it from getting out. And that sentiment has carried over to the trailers; unlike most MCU projects, WandaVision’s trailer isn’t really providing any plot details. Fans who have been following the development of the series have been able to understand what’s going on in most of the scenes that have been shown (the sitcom eras changing, S.W.O.R.D. trying to infiltrate, etc.) but for the general public seeing these ads during football or on Facebook, I have to imagine all of this is pretty confusing.

Most of the marketing materials for WandaVision have focused on the changing eras of the sitcom world and songs that evoke feelings of nostalgia for many people but also may add to the sense of unease and mystery when played over some of the clips where things feel a bit…off, which seems to fit the tone of the project perfectly. There’s been a little bit of action and references to other Marvel projects teased, but not much. This has most likely been done not only to avoid spoilers, but also to prepare viewers for the difference in tone and style for much of the series. Those who have already seen the show’s first three episodes have commented that they firmly focus on the sitcom aspect rather than the fast-paced action typical of an MCU project. We’ve been told that’s coming as well, and the trailers have shown a little bit of it, but it’s definitely not something that’s going to be part of every episode.

Marvel has put out a new TV spot or clip reel for WandaVision seemingly every day for the past month or so, but a lot of them are recycled footage of the same few clips. That’s admittedly pretty typical for marketing, but the trouble may come with the mix of showcasing a whole new style without telling viewers much about the story to hook them in. We’ve mostly just been shown bits of footage that show off Wanda and Vision in their outfits through the various decades with the same few vague audio clips.

If this was an Avengers movie they could probably get away with this method no problem because the name alone creates massive hype. But this is a show about two previously side-characters in a style that may be jarring to a lot of Marvel fans. Those who follow Marvel updates know that all of this is going to lead into future projects like Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, but a lot of the general audience does not. If they could find a way to hint at this being big for the direction of the MCU while still preparing audiences for a new sort of setting with the sitcom stuff, that would have probably been the ideal way to go about it. But perhaps those on the fence about WandaVision will be more likely to give this series the benefit of the doubt considering there hasn’t been any new MCU content at all in the past year and a half. We’ll see how audiences respond to WandaVision when new episodes stream Fridays on Disney+ starting January 15.

January 12, 2021
Darcy Lewis: The Story So Far

If you have been watching the Marvel Cinematic Universe since Phase One, chances are you already know Ms. Darcy Lewis. She’s the one that decided to rename one of the most powerful weapons in the world as “Mew-Mew”. Darcy was a pioneer in establishing the concept of an intern having an intern. Oh, did we mention she also helped save the world from a Dark Elves invasion? The young assistant is making her return after seven years in WandaVision, so let’s take a look back at her MCU history.

After studying political science at Culver University, she started working with scientists Jane Foster and Erik Selvig. At the time, she was interning for Selvig and joined them on their trip to New Mexico. The point of their travel was to study several spatial anomalies, which would end up leading them to run over the God of Thunder. To make sure, she also tased him when he started to ramble about the Bifrost and Mjolnir. After running him over a second time, they helped him learn the lesson Odin wanted to pass on to him when he sealed his hammer. After Thor got stranded in Asgard, Darcy supported Jane Foster in her research to find a way to get to see him again.

Years later, Darcy and Jane found themselves researching anomalies once again. This time it was connected to an event only known as the Convergence. To help their work, Darcy went out of her way to hire Ian Boothby as her intern, an intern for an intern if you will. The trio followed the abnormal signals to an abandoned warehouse. There they witnessed the laws of physics going haywire. It also led to the random creation of various portals. Following that, Foster disappeared and got possessed by the Aether, which prompted Thor to return to Earth. Now, after a short visit, the God of Thunder took Jane back to his homeworld to find out how to extract the red substance from her body. Darcy and Ian were left behind on Earth, so they set out to find Dr. Selvig to solve the Convergence issue. The poor doctor, meanwhile, has lost his mind after being possessed by Loki. Eventually, they find him and reunite with Thor and Jane. They returned to Earth after the Dark Elf Malekith tried to destroy the planet in the wake of the Convergence.

Now, we have no idea how exactly she will play into the story. Charles did share some ideas for why she might be returning. In his article, he theorized that she is involved with uncovering what is happening inside Wanda’s sitcom bubble. Her background in researching anomalies alongside Jane Foster, who in the MCU became a serious candidate for the Nobel Prize. She could play a key figure in bringing Vision back. For now, we can only wait until the show finally airs this Friday and finally shows the world what has happened to Wanda and Vision.

January 12, 2021
Latest ‘WandaVision’ Preview Adds to the Show’s Core Mystery

Something interesting is happening on the official WandaVision Instagram account: old posts are changing! Specifically, the first of six nine-image grids uploaded of the different TV sets posted back on December 29, which originally featured an image of Wanda and Vision in the 1950s on the TV set in the middle has had that picture replaced by a video clip from the show’s first episode:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CJZLE3Cg8Qr/

The clip shows Vision (in his android form) noticing a heart drawn on a specific calendar date while asking Wanda about it. They believe that whatever the heart signifies could be important, but it’s clear that neither knows what that is (and they can’t admit it to each other). It may mark the couple’s anniversary, even though a previously-released preview showed them discuss that they have none. It could be that one of them noted their anniversary but managed to forget at some point. We also know the two host a dinner party in the first episode, so that could be the event marked by the heart. The wacky antics of forgetting about hosting guests for dinner and scrambling to work things out so none will the wiser certainly fits perfectly with the typical wacky antics of a 1950s sitcom.

It also plays into something that got mentioned in the synopsis of the first episode. There is a chance this will surely be an essential part of the plot as the series moves forward: Wanda and Vision are in this idyllic world, but they can’t recall how they got there or their history within it. Perhaps the heart is connected to the overall mystery of the sitcom world. Something that is also noteworthy about the Instagram setup with the nine-image grid pictures is that today is the Monday of WandaVisions premiere week for which the 1950’s image changed into a video.

There are five other TV grids posted on the account, but only three more days between now and Friday. Only three of the other pictures feature a picture of Wanda and Vision. I think Marvel will publish a 1960s clip on Tuesday, the 1980s will be on Wednesday, and Thursday will round it out with the 2000s before the first two episodes drop on Disney+ Friday. Be sure to check back here at Murphy’s Multiverse for more WandaVision updates as we head closer and closer to its launch!

Source: Instagram

January 11, 2021
Disney May Be Considering ‘Black Widow’ Disney+ Premium Access After All

The pandemic hasn’t been easy on Hollywood. Most of their 2020 releases got delayed as it was uncertain if worldwide quarantines would end anytime soon. Yet, there is the question if people would be willing to return to cinemas as long as that uncertainty remained. Marvel Studios had to push back its entire Phase 4 slate by a year. Most of the releases have been shifted around as a result as well. One of those releases was Black Widow.

It was supposed to kick off Phase 4 in May of last year only to get postponed into 2021. Now, WandaVision is officially taking over that duty in the next few days. Even after all this time, the pandemic still looms over our heads. Studios, as well as theaters, are still reeling from the heavy losses of 2020. So, there was still hope to hold the 2021 release dates. It seems that the latest strategy with Raya and the Last Dragon may be signaling a new direction after all.

Raya will premiere in March simultaneously on Disney+ Premium Access and theaters. It isn’t too dissimilar from how Warner Bros. currently has mapped out their entire 2021 release plan. Still, Disney has denied that any such whispers but happened, but we’ve seen them deny such claims once before. Pixar’s Soul went through a similar development before getting released on Disney+. It’s not an easy decision for Disney, as constantly postponing their releases doesn’t help their current plans. It leaves many to wonder if Disney would be willing to pull the trigger and risk it all with a Hollywood blockbuster such as Black Widow come May 2021. Right now, there are too many factors to say if theaters will return to what they once were by May.

Source: Variety (Raya), Variety (2021)

January 11, 2021
Jimmy Woo: The Story So Far

Agent Jimmy Woo is one of the more recent characters introduced into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He made his on-screen debut in 2018’s Ant-Man and the Wasp. We got introduced to the cheerful FBI agent, who was assigned to oversee Scott Lang’s house arrest. Beyond that, we know very little about Jimmy Woo’s backstory. Going by his comic origin, there might be quite a lot more to unpack that the films have yet to explore. Especially, as we now know about his involvement in the upcoming Disney+ show, WandaVision, it might be a good time to take a look back at his short-lived story so far.

We are first introduced to the character officially when he checked in on Scott Lang, who accidentally broke through his fence. He arrived shortly on the scene after Lang’s house arrest ankle monitor accidentally exited his house’s perimeter. Here we learned that Woo doesn’t know how to talk with kids, as he tells Cassie Lang her father’s legal rights in full detail. He is fascinated by Scott’s magic tricks before warning him that violating the rules would get him sent to prison for twenty years. Throughout the film, we see Woo hot on Hank Pym and Janet Van Dyne’s tail, as they get an anonymous tip about their whereabouts at Berkely. He has a brief interaction with Bill Foster trying to get information out of him.
During this time, he is unaware that Scott had escaped his home. Meanwhile, a giant ant is copying his daily routine to get the FBI off his trail. At one point, he checks in on Lang. Cassie delayed him long enough for her father to get back in time. Woo was also part of the team that captured Hope and Hank during their confrontation with Ghost, which he called his first win in a long time. Later on, the FBI would see Giant-Man on television and assume it was Lang. After another goose chase, he ends up running into Scott one last time at his place. So, he took his ankle bracelet and was just about to ask him if he wanted to hang out before leaving again.

Funny enough, Jimmy Woo got briefly mentioned in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. It seems he used to work for the spy organization and worked alongside Melinda May. As the show’s canonicity is uncertain, we do not know if that will remain part of his background. He was a member of Agents of Atlas alongside Shang-Chi at some point in the comics, so it could be in his future. For now, he will return in this week’s WandaVision. Still, his appearance is a bit of a surprise, but a welcome one. With his appearance in the show, chances are he will be one of the more prominent federal officers that will be in charge of “strange occurrences” in the town of Westview. And he’ll be working with the likes of the FBI and S.W.O.R.D., who we know will be present in the show. Whatever his role may be, we’re sure this agent is ready to take on any challenge that comes his way.

January 11, 2021
Monica Rambeau: The Story So Far

Finally, we have only a few more days until WandaVision gets released on Disney+. So, we thought it would be the perfect time to catch you guys up on some of the essential players in the Marvel Cinematic Universe for the upcoming series. To kick it off, we’re taking a look at a character that appeared around two years ago on the silver screen for the first time. Canonically, she has been in the MCU for over 20 years, so she’ll be quite different when she makes her return to the franchise. So, let’s not waste time and take a closer look at Monica Rambeau.

Monica Rambeau made her debut in 2019’s Captain Marvel. She grew a close relationship with Carol Danvers, who she saw as part of their family. Monica would often refer to her as Auntie Carol. She, however, got the adorable nickname Lieutenant Trouble. When Carol was presumed dead after the accident with Lawson’s plane, young Monica refused to believe that her aunt died that day. She kept all of Carol’s things, so it would be ready when she made her eventual return. A few years later, they were finally reunited. Monica was essential to help jog Carol’s memories, which got jumbled after the explosion and her time with the Kree. Even at the age of eleven, Monica had quite a lot of insight and handled the sudden introduction to aliens almost better than her mother. Carol gave her the honor of choosing which color she should use for her former Kree uniform, which ended up being the iconic colors we know from her comic run.

All these events happen in 1995, so we won’t see her again until she’s all grown up. As far as we can tell, she is working for a government agency known as S.W.O.R.D. We’ll get a chance to possibly delve more into her personal history and story once we get into WandaVision. Lieutenant Trouble’s past experiences as a child and her interest in the bizarre make her the perfect character to help pull Wanda out of whatever strange sitcom-inspired dimension she is trapped in. Going by her comic origins, her inclusion might also tease a bright and heroic future for Rambeau.

January 11, 2021
Rumor: Krysten Ritter’s Jessica Jones to appear in ‘SHE-HULK’

In 2019, Netflix released the third and final season of Marvel’s Jessica Jones. The series starred Krysten Ritter as detective Jessica Jones, a woman haunted by her traumatic past with extraordinary abilities. Jessica then settles in New York City after an accident ended her career as a superhero and she opened up Alias Investigations, her own detective agency focused on solving cases involving people who have special abilities like her.

Since her final appearance as the character, fans have been anxiously waiting to see whether or not Marvel Studios will step up to the plate and save the Netflix characters in some shape or form, and include them into the larger scale MCU. While fans may have to wait until February 2021 for the rights to Jessica Jones to revert back to Marvel Studios, we already may have our first hint at when this vigilante badass could pop up in the MCU.

A tweet by @MarvelNewsHub, sourcing Daniel Richtman, states that Krysten Ritter is RUMORED to appear in the Disney+ streaming series She-Hulk, reprising her role as Jessica Jones for the Disney+ show.

https://twitter.com/MarvelNewsHub/status/1348381482113372160?s=19

Now, again, the keyword here is RUMORED. None of this has been confirmed, although Daniel’s reputation certainly precedes him. Nonetheless, if Ritter were to appear in the upcoming She-Hulk series, I’d expect her to appear as a rebooted version of the character, with no link to the previous Netflix version beyond the same actress portraying the character. It’s been already told multiple times that Kevin Feige is not interested in incorporating Loeb’s Marvel TV properties into the MCU, but he didn’t say anything about rebooting them. This isn’t the only time a Defender from Marvel TV has been brought into the MCU. An example of this is the news that our very own Charles V. broke regarding Charlie Cox appearing as Matt Murdock in the upcoming Spider-Man 3 film, due out 2021. Whatever the case may be, we’re definitely ready to see if this unbreakable superhero make her way back to our TV screens in 2022 when She-Hulk premieres on Disney+.

January 10, 2021
‘WANDAVISION’ is Pivotal to the Future of Disney Plus and The MCU

WandaVision has a tall order to fill. It’s not only the first Marvel project of Phase 4, it’s the first MCU streaming series and the first project released after a longer-than-expected year-and-a-half hiatus for the franchise. All of that makes for a lot of weight riding on this show’s shoulders.

The scheduling for Phase 4 and beyond has gone through a lot of changes. Many of them have obviously been due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but there was shifting going on well before the crisis hit. For instance, had James Gunn not been fired (only to later be rehired) as director of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, it would have shot in early 2019 and most likely been the first project to be released in May 2020 (you know, if the pandemic didn’t happen).

The third Guardians movie would have been a natural fit to open Phase 4, as the plan appeared to be for it to close the book on the current iteration of the team while introducing some new ideas as well (there was said to be some set-up for Eternals in the film’s original script, which has surely changed now that Guardians 3 is set to come out well after that movie). But the Gunn firing controversy happened, and now we have The Suicide Squad coming out this year and Guardians 3 postponed (presumably to 2023).

Since the early May (or sometimes late April) date is the prime one for Marvel Studios, the decision was made to drop the planned July 2020 release date and push Black Widow forward to the May one. To me, this never seemed like quite the right way to open Phase 4 (even though its place as the opener was circumstantial). Even though it would have worked in a similar way as Spider-Man: Far From Home to tie up some loose ends and set up some new stuff for the future, a midquel starring a character who has already died in the main timeline that appears to be a much smaller-scale project than the most recent ones being the big comeback after a relatively long break for the MCU just seemed a tad underwhelming. These concerns weren’t about the movie’s quality so much as the level of hype it could bring and “Marvel’s back, baby!” statement it could make not seeming as potentially impactful as other projects, for various reasons.

Here’s the thing: The MCU keeps setting the bar higher and higher for itself, and it’s going to be hard for them to top it in terms of scale a la Avengers: Endgame, at least for awhile; for now they need to try to work on other ways to dazzle and surprise audiences. So after Guardians 3 moved back a few years and we started learning more about the first batch of MCU Disney+ series, I honestly wished Marvel would be able to get one of those done in time to be the project to kick off Phase 4, even though the shooting schedules clearly didn’t allow for it. All three of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, WandaVision, and Loki looked to be exciting and future-building for the MCU, taking it to new places via new genres. And the new-to-the-MCU medium of streaming for these projects would help them get away from some of the inevitable comparisons to what we saw in the Infinity Saga and allow them to stand as their own sort of thing.

Of these three, I would have chosen The Falcon and the Winter Soldier to be the first Phase 4 project out of the gate. (I know it’s because of production scheduling and the pandemic that it’s not going to be the first series anymore, but let’s pretend it was a possibility, okay?) There looks to be some level of focus on recovery from the Blip and setting things up for the MCU’s future. It looks like it’s going to be different enough to feel fresh and exciting, but not so different as to throw everyone into the deep end first thing and alienate potential viewers…which is a concern I have for what is actually going to be the Phase 4 opener, WandaVision.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m very excited for WandaVision (even more than TF&TWS, actually). I’m glad the MCU is taking big swings with this show, and I expect it to be a critical hit. But those who have seen the first three episodes – including our own Charles Murphy – have said the episodes they were shown are very much focused on the domestic life of Wanda and Vision, and while that was pretty much what I expected based on interviews and promotional footage, I’m worried it’s going to be a turn-off to certain audiences. I can’t help but wonder what people who want a lot of action and big set pieces right out of the gate when getting their MCU fix, might feel when the first content they get in a year and a half is a 1950’s sitcom homage with no action and little supernatural or magical elements, especially when it seems like we’re going to be getting several weeks of these sitcom antics before getting to the more typical superhero fare.

As I said, I’m personally very excited for all of this, and am glad the MCU is exploring new formats and genres. But this particular project being the first taste of Phase 4 – an era that is already sort of “primed for hate” no matter what it produces because what came before it was so well-received – is definitely a big risk. I do think it’s a better fit for the opener than, say, Black Widow would have been precisely because it’s going big in certain respects (likely in ways that are atypical) and I can only hope that MCU fans will keep an open mind about WandaVision (and the rest of the upcoming slate) and that it may even draw in some new viewers to the franchise. If this works out well for Marvel, we’re sure to get an even wider array of stories in the future.

January 10, 2021
‘WandaVision’ Stars’ Performances Were Inspired By ‘I Love Lucy’, ‘Bewitched’, and Many More

When WandaVision was first announced back in 2019, fans were promised something, unlike anything the Marvel Cinematic Universe had done before. As news from the show started to trickle in, we learned that WandaVision would pay homage to various sitcoms across multiple eras of television. During today’s press junket for the upcoming Disney+ series, Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany discussed a bit where their inspirations came from, as they explored the history of sitcom actors to base their various interpretations off of.

Elizabeth Olsen: “It was an amalgamation of Mary Tyler Moore and Elizabeth Montgomery, and I think I accidentally threw in some Lucy [Ball] in the 70s, just because there was so much physical comedy.”

Paul Bettany: “I was just so worried about that initially I was like: “Wow, this feels so different”, as I read the script and how do I keep him the same…and then I realized, he’s always being or becoming something else, you know? He’s J.A.R.V.I.S., he’s Ultron, he’s part Tony Stark and he’s Omniscient, but he’s also this sort of naive. And then I realized; “Well, I’ll just throw a little bit of Dick van Dyke in there in a little bit of Hugh Laurie.” I think what Vision is is just decent, honorable, and only exists for Wanda.”

It certainly sounds like they did their homework to showcase the physicality and portrayal based on the era they were in. Jac Schaeffer also referenced their approach with each different era’s accent being embraced and adopted. She likened it to creating a period piece for each entry. We can’t wait to see how it all plays out in WandaVision, when it hits Disney+, this coming January 15th.

January 10, 2021